You live by the sword, you die by the sword. This is supposed to evoke sympathy from me? NAMI has become a pill pushing organization, and they have lost their way. Maybe some house cleaning and throwing out the garbage that promoted this lapse of responsibility is needed. The people I know in my profession, and patients as well who are better educated, know to minimize or avoid NAMI input these days. Maybe this site should reconsider its support of NAMI as well.

As a Mom of someone who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, I have seen my son over-medicated, under medicated and incorrectly medicated. The mental health care system is broken and doctors in the public mental health system will use less expensive, less effective medications due to the cost of the newer meds. NAMI’s advocacy has helped many patients receive correct and proper medications at appropriate doses.

Second, your estimate that pharmaceutical companies account for three-quarters of “donations” has been misinterpreted as a share of NAMI’s total annual budget — which is actually about 50 percent.

Let’s be clear, then — out of all the fundraising the NAMI does annually, $3 out of every $4 comes from a pharmaceutical company. NAMI receives additional money for its budget from other grant makers and such. I should also note that The New York Times did not issue a correction regarding its story, sticking to the facts it originally reported.

The good work NAMI does with this money has never been in dispute. What has been in dispute is NAMI’s secrecy about it for years for “competitive” reasons. Competition in mental health fundraising? Who is NAMI competing with on the same level? Shouldn’t non-profits be working together to increase their impact and effectiveness, rather than competing against one another like for-profits??

The real tragedy here is that NAMI has relied most heavily on government grants and contracts (not pharma) and therfore has clearly let that guide it’s advocacy efforts or lack of effort in some areas. NAMI was once a great organization. Now it is controlled by government. Mario

I think I am going to be sick, but in all fairness, is it not just a matter of the pot calling the kettle black? I hear a lot of talk and see a lot of commercials, and a lot of people getting paid, but I have not seen anyone not paid by a drug company coming out to say, “Anti-depressants saved my life.” In fact, there is evidence showing that suicide rates are actually higher in medicated depressed persons than non-medicated depressed persons. (See Dr. Marsha Linehan) Why are we talking about money instead of research, treatment and recovery? Face it. We are all a pack of greedy, selfish, fools chasing a negotiated illusion as life passes us by: intelligent.